Supervisory system for condition responsive motor control indicator



Aug. 28. 1956 2,761,124 FOR CONDITION RESPONSIVE JNVENTOR ANTHONY J. HORNFEOK ORNEY JOQkZOO $0.52

HORNFECK Filed Nov. 13, 1952 MOTOR CONTROL INDICATOR SUPERVISORY SYSTEM 0 m JoEzoQ @055. 55 5.?

United States Patent 2,76 l 124 Patented. Aug, 28, 1956 a ways a welcome. addendum,., particularly when... the.

SUPERVISORY SYSTEM EDRCONDITION SIVE MOTOR CONTROL INDICATOR" nth nyornieo iz= outhsEuclid; Ohio, assignor to- B y Met r mpany, ,ai rponatinnj tiDelawarei This invention olat s' nnuno ationalarmand con: trol systems.

h a. increase mp cation: f .f l stronio. and, ifluid; r p n iv n ons mptiv y tem as-s eadi1y raised, the need for readily avaiiable intormation concerning the nature and location i of malfunctions in the systems. Monitor-y systems are finding places of increasing im; portance throughout industrial activities, particularly in p the instrumentationand controlphases of these activities Of. course, if a monitory system, is arranged to giv'ea more or less continuous directionto the application off an agent in its effect on a condition it becomes, essentially, the final feedback loop of a complete control lsy stem, The present invention is directed "in contradis'tinction, to fault detection of a systemof apparatus and isj,not primarily intended to direct but to annunciate an occurrence of a malfunction of the apparatus. Nevertheless, it is Within the scope of the present invention to actuatethe apparatus in a predetermineddirection toward ja condition a, of fail-safe. It wouldbe particularly desirable,'of course, I to provide for actuation toward fa faihsafeconditionif the apparatus to which ;the invention is appli'ejd is'controlling a condition. It' is presentlyproppsed to either immobilizethecontrol element or position this element toward an extreme of its range of operation which" isf predetermined to. give Y the process or. manufacture-being controlled amaximurn of pgotectio'n or preservation However, it is generally lhe object of the presenting vention to provide, as an .end result; ,a series of visual. and/ or audible annuncia'tions of particular, faults or mal-- functions on a unitary panelfor operator observation.

Another object is control ofjan agent in paralllfwithfl the annunciations of, the a malfunctions.

In 7 the drawings:

e. 1 is o ssn omplete yst m 0 I 111 l.. i3J;lQ 1. body th pr e t. nv ntionpe form gJu ct on of .5 annunciation.

.,.2 sc ose hosorort on owns invent on .n..- l to. spe fic. adap tion p,a nlairflfotm i f. els tronic network.

In in. 1 t ere is disolos dct o..profiet sd m odimono of t Pre n -i nti n asso atedtw th algasiana vzins ev ce that asbo the nbieptpfi patent. appl ti S. N. 209,952 filed February 8, 19 5l,, now,,Patent, 2,3 ail =.N- 2Qi 23L lFQIN m QI ,1 2), bv mes EaMoEvoyhissp o fio. a a yz o 60 ally represents anydeyice.whiohiperforrnsafunction of, indication,and/or, recordation of fa variable condition, always with the possibility of cqntrolpf ,the variable conditionerone relatedg tojtg in someway. The present inventionis particularly directed ;to thos e devices which", are continuous in function, andjitjisj quite importang; when a portion or all, of their function is directed "to control, that, these deyices be carefully monitored as, far as tho s rv e l ppo a onofi thoirx non n i lconcernech, As was inditiatadsupra the supervisory ap- 7 P ratust hioh an e nn h m n pera or i f rmed *of' the appearance and precise nature of "malfunctions is upervisory pparat s. can combine. ruggednes ,and..sim-.. pli ity ofj per tion .a1ong,,with theready understanding of its. information, all ,of .whiohis found ,in:itl1e..pr.esent inven ion", Specifically, ill fiulgfil'lce OHCETDlHgJfUHCfiDDS'1 ndlnalfunctionsis continuously presented for ,.inspection,t by atsystom ,of annnnciating.lightsuppn. theunitary p and 1, A cataly tic gas analysis isfiperforniediwithin.housing 2,. angi the, results. of, thisanalysisHare. continuously ere, ihitedlhrlo gli theagency of .the electrical and electronics networkwdisclosednalways.with the. possibility of actua: tion. of, a control element simultaneously wi h, i. the ,X: hihition.

More specificcdetailsvof thisltypepf, gas. analyzer dis-t. losedhere may be found .in ,patentsclassified in the. gas. analysis. ,art..,aside .fromflthe ,specific.applicationshfiledtby MsEv y nd referred. 10., above... It, is. -readily; apparent fromk ,thetdisclosuretthat. .a sample of the tgasttoi banana, lyzo disnex racted .fIOlTlnSOIDQ locusiby sample- --tube ,3, included in well-known apparatusnot. shown here which cleans and generally pleparesithe extracted samplefor-i na y Prior to introduction of the sample-intothe analyzer, a regnlatorof the type disclosed and claimed in the patent toJohnson, 2,438,'9 73,is located in the sampler as shownat 4..., Thisiregulator, 4 (passes allof the sample, into the'hQusing ZZOf 'the analyzer and itself 'becomes an irnppr,tant location, for detection ,7 of failure. in the sup; ply of 'jth'esamplel Other fluids, compressed air, oxygen 7 or hydrogen may bedesirable or essentia'lto the pars. ticular ,analysis carried out in housing}. Some or. all. of .thjesei fluid supplies may have a regulator similar Vto 4.1 Precisjelyhowregulator 4 maybe utilized by the present invention will'be described subsequently.

For the present purposes, it isdeemed sufiicie'nttto indicate merely that a .balanceable'. electric network is disclosed 'at 5, to be unbalanced to an extent determined. by the percentage of ,the analyzed fconstituentin the extracted sample. 1 The,unbalance of "thenetwork is comparedato an adjustedvoltagecsource undenthecontrol: of "a motor 6"by reason of (its, rotationbeing prompted by the unbalance betweendhe .tw o voltages being ampli fidfin direction-and magnitude. Tl'lis arrangernent to provide'a continuous balance is generally faimiliar in the art. Motor -6 "is mechanically linked to an element of f electric network 5 in order to oppose, cancel or eliminate the, original unbalance and to. simultaneously exhibit the balancing motion as, the variable, detected in housing)" of {the analyzer =and/ or control this variable or one asso-- cia-tctd with thisfvariable The particular circuitdn'dic'ated at,5 is disclosed and claimed in the l-lornfe'ckjPatent Number 2,612,628 ,"and is shown here-by way of "example only; Two electronic motor control circuits are illustrated,' thepresentpreferred-circu-it in-Fig 1, and-an-older-circuit including. saturable reactors iii-Fig; 2:

The preferred electronic": network of, Fig; l was:- originally disclosed and "claimed in 'l-l-ornfecki 2,5 44,7 It '-appears-desirfable; for an-understanding oi the prob lemsassooiated withiapplying the present inventionto this specific electronic network; ,totrace down the essen risk 1 description of-th'e Hornfeck patent: In' the firstinstance-it must--be appreciated that this "electronic network is 'divided iintortwo sections; one comprising a Weil knownand ;-frequently disolosed two-stageampl-ifir (see- Ryder 2,275,317) including-a--double'triode electronic tube ,-prefe'rably of-*the-6SL 7'typc.= The performance of thisifamplifying networkrfis -too -Well known-to 'need-*dis-' I cussiojn iii-detail. Essentiallya voltage representative of the. unbalanceqof *ele'ctric network -5 t is introduced into the, amplifin with the ultimate result -that-a reversal in phase of this signal /oltageacts-through the-motorc'om trol circuit to effect an operation of the motor 6 in one direction or the other to vary an element in network 5 in proper sense to rebalance the system.

The output of the amplifier is imposed upon the motor control circuit which consists of a single tube 7, preferably of the high Gm or mutual conductance type, such as the 6AG7. This tube is connected in series with a control winding 3 of the motor 6. The plate voltage for the tube 7 is unfiltered pulsating D.-C. voltage obtained from a full Wave rectifier tube 9 of the 6X5 type, receiving its power from a transformer 10 connected to the alternating current power source 11. The voltage output of the amplifier, produced by an unbalance of network 5, is applied to the control grid of the motor control tube 7. This will cause an increase in the plate current during the half-cycle when this applied voltage is in phase with the plate voltage and a decrease during the half-cycle the two voltages are out of phase. As a result, with a large grid signal, half-wave pulses of direct current will flow into the motor circuit comprised of the control winding 8 and the capacitor 12 in parallel. This relationship is shown by graphs in the Hornfeck patent. The phase of this pulsating current depends on the phase of the grid signal, and consequently on the direction of unbalance of electric network 5.

Motor 6 is in effect a two-phase motor which may be described as being a capacitor-run induction motor having a two-phase stator winding and a high resistance squirrel cage type rotor. There are two identical but separate windings 8, 13, the winding 13 being connected in series with a capacitor 14 across the A.-C. power line 11 so that its voltage leads the line voltage by nearly 90. The capacitor 14 is chosen so that it is in resonance with the inductance of the winding 13 at the operating frequency and forms a series resonant circuit. This results in a voltage across the winding 13 which is approximately double the line voltage for the particular motor used.

The winding 8, which will be termed the control winding, while identical with the winding 13 in construction, differs in that it has capacitor 12 connected in parallel across it. The capacitor 12 is designed to produce a condition of parallel resonance at 60 cycles. The plate of the motor control tube 7 is always positive. At balance, some current flows during each half cycle of the applied plate voltage, but this current is pulsating direct current with no fundamental component of supply line frequency and consequently no output torque on the motor is produced. Any tendency of the rotor to coast is restrained by the damping action of the D.-C. component which applies a braking action. As balance is approached from an unbalance condition, there results a reduction in the fundamental component of supply line frequency in the output circuit of tube 7 and a consequent and simultaneous increase in the D.-C. component which produces a dynamic braking action and prevents overtravel.

With an unbalance occurring in electric network 5, the half-wave pulsating current which flows from the motor control tube 7 into the winding 8 and capacitor 12 has a large fundamental 60 cycle component, retaining, as well, higher frequency harmonic components and the D.-C. component which gives the braking action upon motor rotation. However, this parallel circuit is tuned so that the capacitor 12 is in resonance with winding 8 inductance for 60-cycles. This produces a large A.-C. voltage of 60-cycle frequency across the motor winding 8 but reduces the harmonics to a minimum since the parallel resonance circuit acts like a very high impedance to 60-cycle current, but a relatively low impedance to harmonics. In this arrangement the motor tube current may be only 12 rnilliamps. with milliamps. or more alternating current in the control winding 8. This A.-C. control winding voltage lags or leads the main winding 13 voltage by approximately 90,

depending upon the phase of the control tube 7, grid voltage and direction of unbalance of the network 5. Consequently the motor 6 will run as a two-phase motor in a direction determined by the phase relationship of the winding voltages and actuate the balancing element of network 5.

Now in these, and similar structures, motors such as 6 may develop faulty bearings or other mechanical malfunctions which cause the motor operation to become sticky or even jam tight at some point of its travel. If this specific type of trouble occurs during a period of continuous employment of the analyzer, either for recordation or control purposes, it would become extremely desirable to reduce the delay between perception by the operator and control action for sending the control element to a position which will minimize the danger to a continuous process or manufacture associated with the analyzer. By long and practical association with the variables of these motor control circuits, a determination has been made of exactly where an annunciator circuit may be associated most simply and efficiently with the motor control circuit for providing a response to this particular type of malfunction.

it should be recalled that unbalance of network 5 eventually produces an AC. voltage of 60 cycle frequency across motor winding 3. Regardless of the other relationships throughout the network, this voltage in winding 8 will normally reach a predetermined limit before motor 6 is turned. However, should motor 6 be echanically impeded from rotating under normal torque applied thereto, and this would result from a condition of stickiness, the voltage in winding 3 will continue to increase above its normally quite small maximum limit. This fact of voltage build-up from this specific malfunction is taken advantage of in the present invention. Essentially, a circuit including lamp 20 is placed across Winding 3 by means of leads 21 and 22. A frequency wave trap is provided in this circuit at 23A to prevent lamp 20 from being energized by anything other than the large A.-C. voltage of 60 cycle frequency which appears across the motor winding at the time the particular malfunction of stickiness appears. As a D.-C. voltage, with ripple, appears across winding 8 at motor rest, a large condenser has been included in 23A, in series with the l20-cycle wave trap, for preventing non-discriminating lamp 20 from being energized by any voltage other than the large A.-C. voltage of 60-cycle frequency.

The next condition of malfunction specifically detected is that of failure of motor control tube 7. For detection of this malfunction there is provided intelligence, transmitted by an observation of both lamps 23 and 24. Utilizing the lead 22, a circuit has been placed across winding 8 which includes lamp 23 and is completed through lead 25. As indicated supra, there always exists a voltage drop across winding 8, even at a condition of balance. With this fact of continuous current flow in winding 8, the system of the present invention provides a continuous energization for lamp 23 as long as tube 7, the other components of the electric network and the power supply are in normal operation. Of course failures other than that of tube 7 could occur which would atrophy the voltage in winding 8. However, tube 7 is, comparatively, the more vulnerable of these components and the presumption would be overwhelmingly in favor of its emissive failure having taken place.

Should interruption come about in the main power supply, evidenced in the disclosure by lines 11, provision has been made for a circuit including lamp 24 to be deenergized by this particular malfunction. With the circuits and lamps thus far disclosed, it is apparent that no malfunction in either comparatively delicate tube 7 or the main power supply will be taking place as long as both lamps 23 and 24 remain energized. Should the main power supply fail, both lamps 23 and 24 will be extinguished. Should only lamp 23 be extinguished,

failure; of. motor. .tube .7'wou1dgbe indicate-dd Andunheashouldxlampflflube energized; a. mechanical impediment t t ,.the .movement :of. moton;6rsvould:beaclearlyaindicateda Thus,.- at. a glance; anloperaton may determinmtheiprecise character .ofn'nalfiuuctioningofnthe morervuluerable.coma..

ponents .of, am -.e1ectronic. network .and; smotont contnolled thereby. And it is further obvious that ratsystemnofir n ays-c ul eifi n l fi ri nn s i i1 l i S 0fF1am$ 20, Hand-:24. o produce-c n rol. action.-,-vhishawou1d s fe.-

6. duoto'rmllu The saturated-windings may in theacondia. tion-ofi tequilibrium-,= be unsaturatedn partial-lytsaturated or." fully. saturated.-t So. long-as .-the cdegree. etc-saturation 0f: the windings is equal, the motor controlnloopisaintar. steady state Iof equilibrium;oru balance. Norotation of the .1 rotor.. of: motor ,6) occurs... Upon. .unbalance of "the.- degree of 'satu-ratipnnof the .windings, i.- e. with: either.-the; saturation;oftrtheone'awinding being.,;decre'asedsrelative t to. the: other or. with the/saturation.of.:oneawindingabeing.

guard th e.pr-oce ss-,-.of gmanufacture that maybe-associated 101 increasedrelative to. the.iother,.there will result'therotahe meeh ui ak eue xai ahlse e he ec pr catin p un e xt t aeh u 1 .asus an oc sllqwem nda he: qtuat nsr rmr. n s ush;. 1. s laqsd z ar es i urbe-ulow the magnet 26 in order that,,wher thgfiuidmupplied, each s. ;erred; erm nsdrmiu mum. f pr sure. lo in e-ma ne -26 Q'Ial s redet rm ned a e 1 f! 4 33 2 t e .tu tins-r rms ts w ch :1 7. l-.. e" tt actedn .1 rs t.= st emp et a et sen. am r tts and Power r es- 2. Qfii ur s thst wi. h.-. n =.ma nst-@ could be arranged so that the circuit of lamp 28 will be c a tanxtprese act dmeintn mthse anset t travel of the reciprogating plunger ofi,.4. Furthe a-it is obvious that a plurality of these regulators, similar to 4 could be connected so as to energize'larn'p 2 8; or individual lamps associated with'eachfiuidsupply} Againg thepro: vision of relays-in these circuits cOul'd give anynequifed control act-ion upon the -fluid--pressurefailing "or going to some undesirable value. Thus the-present invention completes -a panel of I annunciators for the IEtpjdfCQll: veyance ofwinformation pertaining to specific malfunctions in order that the malfunctions may be isolated and their exact nature and location determined.

In Fig. 2 there is disclosed another specific type of motor control circuit to which the invention is applied. I may employ exactly the same type of amplifier disclosed in Fig. 1. Therefore, only details of the circuit arraugements peculiar to this particular type of motor control circuit have been disclosed in detail in order to give the full explanation of how the invention cooperates therewith.

Although even the preferred arrangements of this particular type of motor control circuit have fluctuated from time to time, that disclosed in Fig. 6 of Hornfeck 2,529,450 has been utilized substantially, as a fairly acceptable form of the type. The motor will continue to be designated as 6, the motor tube failure lamp 23, the sticky motor lamp 20, power failure lamp 24, panel 1 and the power source 11. However, the circuit arrangement will now include a motor control tube 30, saturable core reactors 31, 32, stator windings 33, 34 and capacitor 35.

The arrangement in general provides a DC. control current for the two saturable core reactors 31, 32. These reactors are connected in the motor circuit in such a way that the speed of the rotor of the motor 6 depends on the degree of saturation of the reactors and the direction of rotation depends on which reactor is being saturated. The motor circuit loop comprises the output windings of the reactors 31, 32, the motor windings 33, 34 and the capacitor 35. The loop is provided with altermating current energy from a source by way of con- 75 w nk n -i s '2 loop-will always exist. across capacitor :35. nomat-teltwha tionrofi .thesrotor. i in .a :predeterrninedndipection.- and iat. at speed determined by the unbalance sofrttheaoutput act (the s'aturable .core r reacto rs,.. which: tis determined.tbycthendife ference in degree/of..saturationtof. fthe. windings. When.

1 the motorvis rotatingthe capacitor-J35 iseffectivelysplaced:

in-series'wi-th eithenthe winding outwith :the windinga 34!- and the motor. is:- termed! a. capaeitoranuna motor; Motor-control tube-30 has its-gridszcontrolled fromethea amplifier -circuit. so -ras to control the. saturation: oftrthe;

=reactors-;31,-' 32 fonpropenrotation, ofdthermotort- Ton understand the present invention, itTgiSsOlll-Y nece'ssarywtoube able to follow the :circuit iclosely enoughi te com-prehend how the energizationofithe motor.;windings-33,za 34.; come about.

Now to apply the present invention-1o, this. circuit :of Fig.- 2,- lampn201has been includedinrra,.circuitg placed across-capaciton-fii After a fashion closelytanalogous; to ---tl1*at ot- Pig. 1 thewoltageacross- :capacitor: -35:=:will; exceed a;; normally. quite usm allr, maximum: amount if; a; 'mechanical impediment. .to the rotation, .of smotor 6-;ap pears. This voltage twill reachv .a value v=predoterrni ed I01; energize lamp 20 :when-the. impediment is of, 3a .predete minedsdegreen As willrbe ascertained.fron1- -a closestnd ofi Hornteckt-2,529, 450; the voltage in themoton controlthetd-irectionof. rotation ofimotonfit. If. themotor is r tarded tin-either. ldirectionuof ;rotation hg .=,voltage,- aeross; 35 willaincreaseunt-il.lampfitbis energized:

The powerqfailurerlamp -24.is placed. inea circuitjasrgssr 11116.11: This-sis actually:the-HnE gQ IE E ixenw h sx amn in.-.the..cir,cuit of.-:Fig. lx'and it :isdntended thate'larnp here-uwillzalso rernaintenergizedl as long as, 5 power hnes 11 are supplying the system.

The tarrangement ofizlamp :23 3in;-1the,-.,cirguit; ot; Fig. 2 must be carefully considered in view of the exact import its energization will give. As can be observed from the disclosure of Fig. 2, lamp 23 has been placed in the circuit across motor winding 34. Placing lamp 23 across motor winding 33 would serve the same purpose as both windings are energized at all times, and during rotation only a phase difference exists between the voltages in the two windings.

It is intended that both sides of tube 30 will conduct current to some extent at all times, even at a condition of balance of the system. correspondingly, there will always be a current flow through both the motor windings 33, 34, even during a condition of equilibrium. Therefore, 'as long as tube 30 has a generally high enough level of emission, lamp 23 will remain energized, regardless of which motor winding is included in its circuit.

The condition might next be contemplated where one side or the other of triode tube 30 is lowered from a normal level of emission, or the D.-C. windings of reactors 31, 32 burn out. First, should one side of tube 30 lower in emission, the reactor in the circuit of that side will have its impedance to the flow of current in its A.-C. windings raised considerably. Motor 6 will then rotate in a direction which will cause it to position the rebalancing element of circuit 5 toward a position which will cause the output from the amplifier section to make the plate of the active side of tube 30 negative to the extent that emission will be cut ofi from that active side. With the emission from both sides of tube 30 lowered, lamp 23 will turn ofi.

Secondly, if one of: the reactors 31, 32 burns out its 7 D.-C. windings the impedance in that circuit will be raised and the motor will go to one extreme of its travel. The mechanical impedance of the limit stop of the motor will turn on lamp 20.

A caution must be emphasized because of the possibility that with either of the two types of failures just described the motor may or may not go up to a limit stop and turn on lamp 20 by build-up of voltage across capacitor 35. Should rotation of motor 6 be sufficient, in either failure, to drive the plate of the active side of the tube 30 sulficiently negative, from the measuring circuit, lamp 23 will be deenergized and motor 6 may not have reached its limit stop, and built up sufiicient voltage across capacitor 35 to turn on lamp 20. Generally, the range of operation of the tubes and saturable reactors is such that complete failure of one side of tube 30 or burn-out of one reactor will send the motor against a limit stop for energization of lamp 20, It would be possible that a lamp across each of the motor windings may be desired to further refine the analysis of the energization I of each motor winding.

The invention is obviously not limited in its scope to the specific arrangement illustrated.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

1. In association with an electric amplifying and motor control circuit of a measuring system wherein a motor is directed in its rotation through an electronic tube included directly in at least one winding of the motor to positions indicative of variations in a variable, and wherein one winding is at all times carrying pulsating current from the tube cathode circuit, a circuit system responsive to malfunctions including, a first circuit spanning the last mentioned Winding of the motor whereby the circuit is effectively energized when the motor control electronic tube is delivering cathode current to the motor, a second normally deenergized circuit associated with the motor Winding whereby it will be energized when the motor is mechanically impeded a predetermined degree when energized for rotation under direction of the motor control electronic tube, and means associated with each circuit for annunciating in unison the malfunctions of the motor control circuit.

2. The circuit system of claim 1 in which the electronic tube cathode circuit is arranged to be simultaneously and separately in series with a winding of the motor and a capacitor connected in shunt across the motor winding which arrangement provides that voltage build-up in either direction across the capacitor due to mechanical impediment to motor rotation in either direction will energize the second circuit.

3. The circuit system of claim 2 in which the second circuit responsive to malfunctions includes a capacitor and a wave-trap for harmonics greater than the frequency of the supply circuit.

4. In association with an electric amplifying and motor control circuit of a measuring system wherein a motor is directed in its rotation through an electronic tube in circuit with at least one winding of the motor to positions indicative of variations in a variable, a circuit system responsive to malfunctions including, a first circuit associated with a winding of the motor and responsive to the operation of the motor control electronic tube, a second circuit responsive to the potential in a winding of the motor and energized by a predetermined degree of impediment to the mechanical movement of the balancing motor directed by the motor control electronic tube, an annunciator for each circuit, and a panel for the annunciating devices upon which the devices are arranged in individual and comparative relationship for ready ascertainment of the location and nature of specific malfunctions in the measuring system.

5. The circuit of claim 4 in which the electronic tube controls saturable core reactors through which the motor is positioned as a capacitor-run motor and the potential build-up across the motor winding is due to the mechanical impediment and energizes the second circuit.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,690,243 Parrish Nov. 6, 1928 2,116,947 Ketay May 10, 1938 2,345,772 Robertson et al Apr. 4, 1944 2,452,023 Wild Oct. 19, 1948 2,473,314 Toulon June 14, 1949 2,620,385 Grant Dec. 2, 1952 2,639,418 Sundstrom et a1. May 19, 1953 

